POE switches with SFP slot(s) ?

[TonyR]

I started this thread so as to not hijack a post from @cparktd about an AP for his barn that he's running fiber to.

I've got CAT-5e in my attic here in NW Alabama since 2008 and have lost 2 switches, 2 AP's and a PC motherboard to lightning because of it. Replacing it with fiber has been on my list for several years now and in the meantime I just unplug stuff when a big storm approaches.

I've grown tired of that some time ago BUT.....last week the local company whose list I've been on for over 2 years contacted me saying they're ready to pull fiber into my house. I'll have 1 Gig up & down with a public static IP....I'm stoked. I'm scheduled for 9/28 so now I've got to get hopping and get that fiber pulled into the attic. I guess you might say I've finally got a 'round tuit'.

I was planning on this fiber ==>> FLYPROFiber LC to LC Fiber Patch Cable OM3 30M, Length Options: 0.2m-150m, 10GB Duplex LC-LC 50/125um Multimode Fiber Optic Cable Cord LSZH-30Meter(98ft)

and these media converters ==>> A Pair of 1.25G/s Bidi Gigabit Multi-Mode Fiber Ethernet Media Converter with 2PCS Bidi SFP LC Dual Transceiver Module Included, 10/100/1000Base-Tx to 1000Base-SX SMF RJ45 to SFP Slot up to 550M

If I use the media converter I'd have to go from there to a POE switch, each with their own wall warts so a POE switch w/ SFP would cut down on the components....simpler (less component count) is generally better, in my book.

@Mark_M said in another thread there are switches with SFP slots. Anyone have recommendations for those vs. the media converters? I'll need POE at that end so a POE switch with SFP would kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[Mark_M]

@Mark_M said in another thread there are switches with SFP slots. Anyone have recommendations for those vs. the media converters? I'll need POE at that end so a POE switch with SFP would kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

I haven't touched anything of fibre, I've just read about it.

As much as I know, there is different types of SFP modules for different types of fibre cables. Such as two fibre pairs for tx and rx, or both are bi-directional, or single fibre cable bi-directional.
They are called "Fibre Transceivers".

Usually managed switches have the SFP slot.
Some routers also have them, like the Ubiquiti Edge router.

That's all I know....

 

[TonyR]

I found this POE switch with SFP port ==>> MokerLink 11 Port Gigabit PoE Switch with 8 PoE+ Port, 2 Gigabit Uplink, 1 SFP Port, 120W AI Detection, Qos, Fanless Metal Plug & Play Unmanaged Network Switch

Reviews are mixed.

 

[duplo]

hi,

i have two switches, one for all network devices inside the house and one for all outside devices. both are connected with 2 sfp lc modules in a lacp group (just for failover)
so the network inside the house is protected against any lightning strike (also have lightning protection for power)

dahua sells poe switches which have surge protection for each port. they are also managed and have sfp ports. i think the lower wattage models are around 200usd from empiretec

PoE Switches - Dahua International

PoE Switches

www.dahuasecurity.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'd stick with "regular" PoE switches and media converters. Select them based on power requirements and how much power they can provide. That way you're not locked into buying a switch based on it having an appropriate fiber port and stuck compromising on power capabilities. We all know what usually happens with power demands on a PoE switch, eventually.

 

[Holbs]

at work, we always would recommend a POE switch with SFP's instead of individual POE switch and then media converter because all in one, less failure points, less clutter, and also managed (which is a big thing for security & troubleshooting). However, those are enterprise equipment costing thousands of dollars (mainly Cisco's, Aruba's, HP's, etc) that can easily do 300 watts or higher reliably. However, a home environment has the financial challenges one must balance with home networking equipment (less reliable). I personally run with Ubiquiti network devices which I rate the middle ground between enterprise and home network device quality. My managed 48 port POE with SFP ports can pump out 500 watts but does come with that $750+ price tag. I would be comfortable using the SFP ports on it. You could could with the little brother of 8 ports + SFP with 150 watts for $150+.
However, if I were using a bare bones POE switch that was more.... financially easier on my wallet, that is where the concern is when it comes to longevity of the equipment. Before the Ubiquiti switch I snagged, I was running a lesser known manufacturer 16port POE switch. In this situation, I for sure would recommend a separate multimedia converter instead of using the onboard SFP ports, knowing the failure rate of said switch is an unknown.
I have no idea of the quality of the Netgear and TP-Links of the world. I have not heard too many complaints of them in the home environment. But most home environments are not run by folks who even know what a managed network is either

 

[garycrist]

I had them pull the fiber all the way into the wiring closet. He stood at the bottom while
I climbed the attic. He was all in for that proposition.

 

[Mike A.]

I've not used the fiber connections but I have an older Netgear FS728TP 10/100 managed switch with both SPF and 1Gb uplinks ports that wasn't much and has run like a champ forever. Not a single problem that I can recall since I plugged the thing in. No experience with the newer versions but some shown here:

https://www.netgear.com/business/solutions/poe/devices/

I have had a few problems with one of their older 8-port switches. Lifetime warranty on it and without any trouble they sent replacements twice (no problem with second since).

 

[OICU2]

Though I don't use the SFP ports, there are two available in the Netgear GS110TP switches that I use.

 

[Old Timer]

I have one of these switches in operation about a year, still working.
Think there is 4-5 cameras on it.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0899MWYKL/ref

 

[Flintstone61]

Do you know, or does it matter, if the modem Device from fiber optic company has fiber ports? If not, that could make a case for a media converter i suppose.
edit. Looks like they use fairly typical modem devices with a 4 port rj45 switch ( gigabit). not seeing a fiber port on the consumer level modems.
It's all new to me....I used to terminate fiber once in a awhile, way back when....but I forget just about everything except my address and my bank balance these days.

 

[tech_junkie]

I find fiber being a useless thing for backbone since they came up with a 1Gb Ethernet for this application. Because a lightning strike is not going to translate thru a data port because they are transformer isolated and will find the enclosure being a better ground. If you look, most switches even have a grounding screw so you can enhance this path in case of a lightning strike which is really the only protection against a lightning strike. Because they strap a power supply on the center tap of the blue and brown pairs thus losing transformer isolation.

 

[TonyR]

Because a lightning strike is not going to translate thru a data port because they are transformer isolated and will find the enclosure being a better ground.

In my experience, I strongly disagree. And my opinion is not based on theory and something I read about. It's based on 50 years of hands-on field experience as an electrician and electronic technician, 20 of those years in AL and GA both bordering the lightning capital of the United States, FL.

It is not my imagination that I lost the items I mentioned in post #1 to induced EMI from nearby lightning strikes. The CAT-5e running the 65 foot length of my attic invited the damage and I will replace it with fiber.

I don't know about the lightning in SD but in AL and the SE in general just the sonic percussion can knock pictures off the wall and set off car alarms. I've seen it blow holes in the side of aluminum traffic signals cabinets you could stick your fist through, turn Bakelite terminal blocks into resistors and spot-weld the metal case of inductive vehicle loop detectors to the cabinet shelf.

Induced static from nearby, severe lighting strikes can go anywhere it decides to go and no arrestor or suppressor of any technology is guaranteed to prevent damage from it. I've seen results when the static has ignored very, VERY good grounds and bonding and traveled through devices, including isolation transformers, destroying anything in it's path, including electronic devices that were unplugged and not even connected to anything but were sitting in close proximity to damaged equipment.

Yes, really.

 

[Flintstone61]

Naperville. IL, had some of thee most lightning I've ever ( heard)(seen), I only lived there 1 year, and we lost 2 different Comcast modems. a wifi router. and a macbook and 2 dell PC's....in 3 different events.
That shit was ridiculous. Arris modems must a made a billion dollars that year LOL.....Jesus H Christ in a Chicken Basket.
So I totally get the Fiber Optic route. @sebastiantombs

Now up here in the North country, we don't see as much lightning, and my equipment lasts mucho longer.
But shit still happened.
we lost the MyQ garage door hub, and the Garage door motherboard got real stupid, and the Cisco 10 port POE switch ....
So I upgraded to a Door opener with the MyQ wifi thingy built in.

 

[tech_junkie]

In my experience, I strongly disagree. And my opinion is not based on theory and something I read about. It's based on 50 years of hands-on field experience as an electrician and electronic technician, 20 of those years in AL and GA both bordering the lightning capital of the United States, FL.

It is not my imagination that I lost the items I mentioned in post #1 to induced EMI from nearby lightning strikes. The CAT-5e running the 65 foot length of my attic invited the damage and I will replace it with fiber.

I don't know about the lightning in SD but in AL and the SE in general just the sonic percussion can knock pictures off the wall and set off car alarms. I've seen it blow holes in the side of aluminum traffic signals cabinets you could stick your fist through, turn Bakelite terminal blocks into resistors and spot-weld the metal case of inductive vehicle loop detectors to the cabinet shelf.

Induced static from nearby, severe lighting strikes can go anywhere it decides to go and no arrestor or suppressor of any technology is guaranteed to prevent damage from it. I've seen results when the static has ignored very, VERY good grounds and bonding and traveled through devices, including isolation transformers, destroying anything in it's path, including electronic devices that were unplugged and not even connected to anything but were sitting in close proximity to damaged equipment.

Yes, really.

I love it when I get people on a rant.
Chances are the POE cables in the attic & walls connected to cameras are going to be the path of least resistance instead of an oil filled buried cable. On the places that I have gone out and replaced equipment stuck by lightning Its always been the POE switch or supply. In the case of ubiquity antennas, its always been their little poe injector and the cable that went from the antenna to it.

 

[Old Timer]

I have worked around radio towers all of my career, and I have seen lightning strikes that melt through
10 gauge copper wire, blow electrical boxes inside out, start fires, and all sorts of things that a 100,000 amp
strike will do. A little transformer will have no effect at all on a strike, and probably not even on a near strike.

Yes, grounds will do a lot to help out on near strikes, or inductive strikes, but when it totally wipes out proper
hydraulic crimps on #2 copper wire causing bits and pieces of copper to be melted and sprayed all over a 10 x 12'
building, you know there was a heck of a lot of current going through the grounds.

You can look up a military document on proper grounding to see what you need to go through for proper grounding.

 

[Gargoile]

Lightning strikes can play havoc with any electrical system. Grounding is crucial, but it has to be done correctly, but unless you have your facility power protected you will have the possibility of loosing hardware.

My favorite setup and I have worked in data center environments is having a facility behind a Pillar ( or Rotary ) UPS system. There is no way a power surge or spike can physically make it through to your internal power grid. But having this for a home is not cost effective. ( yet)

I find it interesting that our homes are slowly becoming data centers themselves. I can see new homes being built with MDF rooms and IDF closets throughout the home for ease of adding network hardware.

 

[AP514]

Here is one like I use 1 in house and 1 in my Garage Netgear ProSafe GS728TPP 24-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch with PoE+ and 4 SFP | eBay

Although I purchased mine for about $130 Avg. You can get some great deals if you have the time.

 

[TonyR]

I love it when I get people on a rant.

Glad you enjoyed it! Personally, I love listening to people that think when they speak everyone is supposed to think it's the voice of God.
Not saying that's you.....

 

[tech_junkie]

I have worked around radio towers all of my career, and I have seen lightning strikes that melt through
10 gauge copper wire, blow electrical boxes inside out, start fires, and all sorts of things that a 100,000 amp
strike will do. A little transformer will have no effect at all on a strike, and probably not even on a near strike.

Yes, grounds will do a lot to help out on near strikes, or inductive strikes, but when it totally wipes out proper
hydraulic crimps on #2 copper wire causing bits and pieces of copper to be melted and sprayed all over a 10 x 12'
building, you know there was a heck of a lot of current going through the grounds.

You can look up a military document on proper grounding to see what you need to go through for proper grounding.

......... and